A Wish Upon A Shooting Star
by madcrazystoryteller
Summary: A wish made by Harry on his seventh birthday triggers a chain of events that change both his life and destiny.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE – THIS WAS HOW IT WAS ALWAYS SUPPOSED TO BE

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of this fan-fiction expect for the characters that I have created to fit the requirements of my story and even then I do not intend to use any of it for any financial or material profit.

A small skinny boy with a mess of black hair and taped up round framed glasses in old over grown clothing could be seen whimpering in agony, cuddled up in a corner. Though his real name was Harry Potter, he was more used to his relatives either calling him a freak or boy.

He was yet again beaten today because the ice cream bowl that his cousin had been eating from had suddenly shattered and his aunt and uncle had turned their ire on six year old Harry for troubling their darling son, Dudley.

The problem was that Harry had no clue how that ice cream bowl had shattered and no matter how many times he tried to tell his uncle and aunt this, they didn't believe him one bit. It's not like this was the first time that something like this had happened.

Harry was more than used to unusual things happening to different people when he was around, though by no fault of his and the word would reach his uncle or aunt and they would in turn punish him by beating him senseless and locking him up in the cupboard under the stairs, where he lived, for days on end, without proper food, water or medical attention.

Today was yet another day like that. After the ice cream bowl had shattered, his uncle had whipped his back with his belt and punched him a few times in the face and also twisted his right arm in such a way that now his broken right arm was bent at an odd angle.

So that was how Harry ended with a bloody face and back and a broken hand with blood soaking his clothes. The one respite being that in his fury, his uncle had forgotten to lock his cupboard's door. Harry had extended his leg a while ago to get a bit more comfortable only to discover the door of his cupboard open.

It took a while but eventually, six year old Harry stopped crying and managed to make his way out of the cupboard without making too much noise so as to not alert his relatives.

The first thing Harry noticed when he made his way to the living room was to realize that it was quiet as well as dark outside signifying that it was well into the night. Apparently for reasons unknown his aunt had left the living room window open that night.

Not bothering to deciphering the reason for his aunt's lack of attention, Harry turned slowly to make his way into the kitchen. It was then that the clock on the wall started chiming, signifying that it was midnight hour.

Suddenly, Harry remembered with childish enthusiasm that it was officially 31st of July, meaning it was his birthday. He was seven years old. He didn't know why but something told him that this birthday would be slightly different than the ones he had until then. No, he wasn't expecting his aunt and uncle to suddenly shower him with gifts and a lavish cake like they do with his cousin, just that it would be different.

Taking a moment to himself, he yet again wished for the millionth time that his parents were alive so that he could have at least couple of people who would be genuinely happy about his birthday and treat him with some love. So lost was he in his thought process that he managed to miss the twin shooting stars that crossed each other and blinked as he made his wish.

Snapping out of his reverie he moved toward the kitchen to see if there was anything left for him to eat not realizing the fact that he had just triggered a new chain of events. Once Harry made a small meal out of whatever measly leftovers there were in the kitchen, he slowly made his way back to his cupboard were he somehow managed to fall into a fairly comfortable sleep that should not have been possible in his current state of being.

It was a fairly regular morning time in the Dursley household the next day; or rather as normal as it can be for the Dursleys at least. Both Vernon and Petunia Dursley were dressed well for the day. Their son Dudley had just made his way out of bed. The three of them were currently engrossed in eating their respective breakfast. Apparently for reasons unknown to him, Harry's right arm had somehow managed to fix itself while he was asleep. So he was up again that morning, fixing breakfast for his relatives. Though he was still bloody and bruised, he was somehow able to move around without too much pain.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and all actions came to a standstill. It was fairly early for the Dursleys to have any form of visitors. So after a moment's pause, Vernon Dursley turned his rather large frame to glare at his nephew and grunted, "Well, what are you waiting for boy? The door isn't going to open all by itself. Go open it before I lose my patience with you again."

Not wanting to test his uncle's patience this early in the morning, Harry quickly put down the pan and made his way to the door and opened it to find two very young people there. They looked well dressed, so Harry thought that they must be someone important. Although a voice in the back of his head told him that he should recognize them, he quickly dismissed it. These two looked like they were important. Why should he, a mere freak have any knowledge of them. So he tried to hide his nervousness and asked them in the most respectful tone he could manage.

"Good Morning! Are you here to meet uncle Vernon?"

For some reason, hearing his voice seemed to do something to the two people in front of him. The man tightened his grip on the woman's shoulder as her eyes glistened a bit. Though after a moment's pause she moved out of the man's protective embrace and knelt in front of Harry with a kind look filled with love and affection on her face as if he was most important she had ever seen.

This seemed to confuse Harry as he had never had anyone look at him like that before, but before he could voice his doubt, his uncle decided that he had been gone long enough and lost his patience and bellowed.

"Well boy, who is it? I don't have time all day to sit here and wait for you to move at your leisure."

Harry tried to open his mouth to mumble a quick apology but the woman quickly put a finger to his lips and shook her head with a kind smile on her face. Harry couldn't help himself and smiled back at her. She was more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen and somehow about having her close to him made him feel safe.

The woman slowly got up and took Harry's hand in her hand and turned to look at the man, with whom she seemed to have a quick silent conversation. Finally the man nodded and both of them turned to the door and walked in, both taking one hand of Harry in theirs which put Harry in the middle of the group.

When the three of them walked in to the kitchen, all three of the Dursleys paused their breakfast to take a look at their guests. The reaction was immediate. Petunia Dursley looked like she had seen a ghost and was practically white whereas her husband Vernon was staring at the two people with Harry, wide eyed and open mouthed.

Finally the woman with Harry seemed to lose her patience and said, "Well Petunia, it seems that seeing me and my husband here has shocked both you and your husband in silence. Honestly, I expected a better welcome than this."

Petunia looked at the woman silently with shock on her face before stammering, "You― you're dead. Yes, you're dead. They said you were dead Lily."

The man next to Harry suddenly got an amused look on his face and said, "Well it seems that now we are undead; how about that?"

The woman named Lily, turned to look the man and said in a warning tone, "James, don't―" and then turned to look at Harry's aunt and uncle and said, "I don't understand Petunia, how does James and me being dead give you the right to mistreat Harry in such a manner. He's just a child Petunia ― my child Petunia, my only son. He's your nephew for god's sake. I was your only sister. How could you?"

As the older people in the kitchen stared at each other with different emotions, young Harry was experiencing a roller coaster ride of emotions all by himself. The woman, who he now knew was named Lily, had said that she was his mother. That meant that the man next to her whose name was James must be his father. But Harry was confused. He was told that his parents were jobless drunks who died in a car crash which gave him the scar on his forehead. From what he knew, people don't come back once they died, do they? This was all so confusing. So he did the only thing he could and moved away from the people who claimed they were his parents and looked at them and asked.

"Are you really my parents?"

James and Lily turned to look at Harry with a look with reflected equal part love and pain and nodded silently. It took all effort on James's part to not beat the bloody Dursleys to a pulp whereas Lily wanted to take her baby boy away and hide him from all this madness for the rest of his life.

Harry turned to look at his aunt Petunia and asked, "Are they really my parents? You told me they were dead."

Petunia wanted to deny and say that she didn't know the two people in front of her, but one look at her sister told her that anything that came out of her mouth that wasn't the truth, would end up being not so pleasant for her and her family. So she just closed her eyes and sighed, visibly deflating before turning to look at the young boy whom she had treated so badly and said, "Yes, they are your parents and yes they were dead. I don't know how they are here but yes, they really are your parents."

Harry turned to look at his parents and without him realizing had walked over to them and started asking questions one after the other.

"Why didn't you come until today? You know, I always wanted to meet you. Will you be staying? How long are you staying? Where do you stay? What do you do?"

Lily realizing that this was her son's way coping with his emotions knelt down to his level and gently pulled him into a hug. At first he stiffened; but then he hugged her back and soon she could feel his body shaking as he started crying against her shoulders. Without meaning to, she too wept, partly out of despair over all that her baby boy went through, but mostly out of happiness that she was finally here for her son; her only son.

The two just stayed there for like minutes but were eventually broken out of their tranquil space when Vernon finally gathered up his nerves and said, "Well, now that you're back, why don't you take this ungrateful little shit and leave me and my family well alone?"

That was a mistake, because the moment he stopped speaking, he was flung from his chair across the room to the wall were he slumped down moaning in pain which caused Petunia to shriek and Dudley to scream. They both then rushed over to the still moaning Vernon. James had apparently lost his control and the result was that Vernon had been banished across the room.

Harry was looking at his James with big wide eyes. He tried unsuccessfully a few times to speak before he managed to say, "Dad! How did you do that?"

James ran a hand across his face tiredly and looked at Lily sheepishly who huffed and turned to Harry and said, "Sweetheart! There's a lot we have to tell you. But before that we need to leave and go take care of a few things. I promise you that I will answer all your questions, but not now. Ok?"

Harry couldn't do much apart from nodding because although he wanted answers, the fact that his parents had come back for him was good enough for now. He saw his mother use a funny looking stick and wave it in front of him while saying funny words. Although he couldn't see it, he surely felt his body becoming better. His father too waved his stick and created a hand mirror which he gave to Harry to look at himself.

What Harry saw made his jaw drop. His bruises were completely gone. He looked much cleaner but the most noticeable changes of all were that his glasses looked new and his clothes fit him perfectly. They were not new by any means. They looked normal home worn clothes in good condition. Stunned he silently gave the mirror back to James who chuckled and made the mirror disappear with another flick of his funny stick.

Lily looked around to make sure there wasn't too much damage done to her sister's house. As much as she wanted to trash the place in response to her sister's treatment of her son, she knew that they had enough on their plate without adding new issues. So she threw her sister a last glare and took Harry's hand and quietly guided him out of the house with James following them behind.

Once outside the house, Lily quickly bent down to look at Harry and said, "Sweetheart, we are going to go to a few places before we can go home. There are a few things that we need to take care off. Are you ok with that or do you want to go home now?"

Harry looked at his parents and said, "Home. We have a home?" When his parents nodded, he asked. "So this is not my home?"

As both Lily and James nodded in agreement, Harry had a huge grin on his face as he realized that he was going to live with his place. It was at that moment that there was a flash of bright light around Number Four, Privet Drive.

Lily looked at James and said, "The wards James. We need to leave quickly. He'll know by now."

James simply nodded and looked at Harry and said, "Hold on to your mother's hand tightly Harry, this will be a bit uncomfortable."

Harry quickly took Lily's hand and gripped it tightly. As he saw his father twist on the spot, he felt a heavy pressure settle down on him and he felt like he was being squeezed through a narrow space. It ended as soon as it began.

When the world righted itself, Harry clutched his stomach and groaned. He heard his parents' chuckle and felt his mother caressing his hair affectionately. Once he was able to stand up properly, he saw that he was standing across from a huge white marble building.

His mother smiled warmly at him and led him to the building while his father looked around as if trying to see if someone was following them or not. When they reached the front door of the building, Harry immediately took a sharp breath and moved closer to his mother as he saw very fierce looking creatures standing there were axes and blades, guarding the building.

He heard his mother groan and his father chuckle. When he looked up at them questioningly, his father turned to him and took a sigh before saying, "Harry mate, do you remember what your mum said?" when Harry nodded, he continued. "This is one of those things. I know you have questions, but please come along with us silently for now. I promise you that we'll get you home soon enough and then answer all your questions."

Harry dumbly nodded to afraid to say anything else. So he quietly followed his parents inside the building. He joined his parents in a line behind many people. Soon they reached the counter upon which Harry saw another one of those creatures sitting. His father waited for the creature to look up and said in a quiet but authoritative voice, "I need to see Lord Ragnok regarding a very important matter. Please inform him that James Potter, Lily Potter and Harry Potter would like to meet him in private as soon as possible."

Harry noticed that the creature looked at him with wide eyes as soon as his father announced their names. The creature nodded once his father had finished speaking and quickly left through a side door at a run. It came back a few moments later and asked his father to follow as it led them to one of the offices deep in the building. Harry noted that though the building was made out of marble on the outside, the inside was made from rocks.

Soon they reached an ornate door, were the creature quietly gestured them to enter and left to go back to the counter. Harry followed his parents into the room and immediately realized that this must be someone very important, as the office was very richly decorated. Imagine his surprise when saw another one of those creatures, albeit an older one sitting behind an ornate expensive looking table.

The creature noticed their presence and immediately said in a deep gravelly voice, "Mr. & Mrs. Potter! I must say I was pleasantly surprised when one of my managers told me that you had come to meet me regarding an important issue. I hope you can forgive my curiosity and confusion on being requested to meet someone who was apparently dead as per common public knowledge. But where are my manners. Please take a seat."

Harry followed his parents and sat on one of the chairs as his parents sat on either side of him. His father shared a look with his mother and then turned to the elderly creature and said, "I can understand your confusion and curiosity Lord Ragnok and as you put it perfectly, we were in fact dead. Let's just say that if we are here today then, it is largely due to my son Harry. But I'm afraid that beyond that I'm not allowed to give you any more details."

The elderly creature nodded in agreement and said, "Very well Mr. Potter. As curious as I am, I can understand as to why you would want to keep such information private. Now am I correct in understanding that you are here today to reclaim all your accounts and assets?" when his father nodded, the elderly creature quickly pulled a few sheets of funny looking paper and a beautiful looking small knife from one of the cupboards and passed it on to his father and said, "You know the procedure Mr. Potter".

His father nodded and quickly took one of the funny looking papers and used the knife to cut his palm open which caused Harry to gasp. His father just smiled at him and winked before he used the knife to drop three drops of his blood on that funny paper. He then passed the knife to his mother who did similarly before she quietly put her hand on Harry's shoulder and said, "Sweetheart! It won't hurt a bit. It's more like a small tingling sensation. I promise you it won't hurt." So Harry nodded and allowed his mother to do the same to him.

Once they were all done, his father handed the three funny papers and the knife to the elderly creature who put the knife back in the drawer and then place the three funny looking papers one next to the other and snapped his fingers which caused words to appear on the funny paper. The elderly creature then read each of the funny looking papers separately before looking up to his father and saying, "All seems to be in order."

The elderly creature then wrote a quick note and put it in one of the boxes on the table and leaned back in its chair. Hardly a few seconds went by when the door opened and another younger looking creature walked in carrying a small box which he passed to the elderly creature and left the room quickly. The elderly creature passed the box to his father, who opened the box took out a big ring and wore it on his right hand. To Harry's surprise the ring glowed for a moment or two before going back to its original state. Harry looked at his mother who smiled and mouthed "Later" to him. He then saw his father taking out two keys from the box; one bigger and one smaller. He then stood up only to be followed by his mother. So Harry too stood up.

His father looked at the elderly creature and said, "Thank you for your co-operation and assistance Lord Ragnok. We appreciate it." The elderly goblin acknowledged his father and said in response, "Think nothing of it Mr. Potter. Though I'm certain that you would know that quite a few people will be unhappy regarding your sudden return, I can assure you that the Goblins of Gringotts are very happy to have one of our oldest and esteemed clients back doing business with us."

His father nodded and turned toward the door and started walking. Harry quietly took his mother's hand followed all the while thinking, "Goblins. That's what those creatures are called."

Once they were outside the room, his father looked at one of the goblins standing there and said, "We would like to visit The Potter Family Vault." The goblin simply nodded and gestured for them to follow and walked away. Harry followed his parents and they were soon in front of what looked to Harry like some kind of tracks. The goblin then whistled which made a driverless cart appear on the cart.

Harry looked at the cart wide eyed whereas his parents reacted as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Harry was sure that when they got around to answering his questions it was going to take quite a lot of time. He had so many questions he wanted answered. At the same time he didn't want to push his luck and keep pestering them because he was afraid that they would decide that having him was not worth the effort and dump him back at the Dursleys. That was one of the main reasons why he silently agreed whenever his father or mother said that they would explain everything later. He knew that they were being sincere and honest with him but one part of him just couldn't avoid being guarded with them.

When all of them were seated at the cart, the goblin yet again whistled making the cart zoom away. It was the most fun Harry had ever had in his entire life. It was like a rush he couldn't explain. When they finally stopped in front of their family vault, Harry was grinning like a loon which amused his parents to no end. He was so out of it that he didn't even notice the roar of the Dragon that scuttled around the corner and out of view and neither did he see his father opening the family vault. It was only when he stepped into the family vault that he came back to his senses.

Now Harry was no slouch at studies. In fact he was pretty good when it came to counting and numbers. But he was sure that he wouldn't know how much it was if his parents outright told him. The entire vault was huge with piles of gold, silver and bronze coins. That was not all though. The vault was filled with jewelry, books, cabinets, trunks, armor, portraits and various old but important things.

His father just quickly picked up a small bag that was obviously meant to keep the coins and started stuffing quite a bit of all the coins in it whereas his mother went to one of the jewelry boxes and picked up two rings, one of which she handed to his father. She also picked up what she told Harry was their will. They stayed in the vault for a few more minutes as both his parents kept taking random things.

Once they were done, they yet again took the cart back up much to the pleasure of Harry. Once they reached their destination, they walked back to the white marble room and from their out of the building. Harry was sure that what they had visited was a bank as he had heard his aunt and uncle speaking many times about having to visit the bank in order to take out money.

As soon as they were outside, his mother flattened the front of his hair covering up his scar with a warning to keep it like that for his own benefit. Harry just nodded silently in agreement. After that his parents took him to what was a deserted alley with a lone postbox in it.

When he questioned his parents about where they were, his father said they would be there in a minute and then to his surprise, led them over to the telephone. Once all of them were inside the booth, his father picked up the receiver and dialed a number which made a woman's voice appear and announce that they were to announce their name and purpose of visit.

When his father gave the necessary details, three simple paper badges appeared which all of them pinned to their dresses. But what both surprised and freaked Harry was that the voice had announced that they were apparently visiting the Ministry of Magic.

If that was the end of surprises then Harry was disappointed as the moment the voice stopped speaking, the phone booth began to descend which caused Harry to scream for which his mother calmly placed her hand on his shoulder and told him that it was fine and that she was there with him.

When the phone booth stopped descending and the door opened, Harry looked at the huge black marble room in wonder. It was the biggest room he had ever seen in his entire life. All around them, people were coming out of fireplaces which had a funny looking green fire in them. Harry had no trouble believing this was all magic but at the same time he couldn't help worry whether this was all some great fantasy dream of his.

His parents then went to a security guard who was sitting behind a desk and presented their funny stick to the guy who dropped it in a strange looking dish with scales out of which came the same funny looking paper of smaller size. The wizard read out the details to his parents without looking up from his place. His parents gave their acknowledgment in a short but precise way. The man looked bored out of his skin and Harry had to agree that his job really did seem way too boring.

From there his parents led him over to one of the lifts. Apparently they were lucky as no one joined their lift. As the lift started moving, the same female voice kept announcing various office names which were too long and complicated for Harry to remember as the lift stopped at each floor. When they finally reached what the same woman's voice announced was level two followed by yet another list of names, Harry's parents led him to one of the doors which had a huge sign with a name far too big for Harry's tastes.

When they were inside, Harry saw his father calmly walk up to the lady who sat at what was the reception and tell her that he would like to meet who he called Amelia Bones. When the woman asked who he was, his father gave her their names. Harry found the woman's reaction funny as the moment he stopped speaking the woman looked at him wide eyes and turned to look at him and his mother then squeaked and ran off to presumably to inform this so called Bones woman.

As father came back to stand with them, his mother asked in a tight voice, "James! Need I remind you the importance of the situation? Whatever possessed you to act like that?" His father for his part looked sheepish and even winked at Harry which made him chuckle. This caused his mother to turn and look at him with a glare which caused Harry to flinch which immediately made his mother mutter a quick apology to him about not really meaning anything from the glare.

By the time they all straightened up, the woman from the reception desk walked out with another older woman who looked too strict for Harry's liking. But the moment the old woman looked at his parents, she stopped dead in her track before she immediately pulled her funny stick and pointed it at his parents.

That was as far as he got to see because the next moment, Harry felt his mother put herself in front of him and say in a cold anger filled voice, "Put your wand away Amelia. You do not want to do that. You want answers. As do we. So how about we behave like adults instead of emotionally charged teenagers?"

This seemed to snap the woman back to reality as she put her funny stick away and turned toward her room, gesturing to his parents to follow her. His parents for their part shared a look and silently followed her making sure to keep Harry between them.

Once they were inside the room and all seated, Lily immediately said, "Amelia, I know this must come as a shock to you. So tell us how you want to do it? Would you like a testimony under Veritaserum or would an oath suffice?"

The woman named Amelia leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. She then looked at Harry and his parents and said, "As much as I would like to keep this private, it is better for you if we did this officially. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist on a testimony under Veritaserum."

To this both Harry's parents nodded and Amelia got up from her seat and went over to the fireplace where she bent down and stuck her head in and spoke to a few people from the sound of things. Though Harry was curious, he was beyond the point of being surprised after having seen a lot many things that day.

As Amelia came back and sat down, the room descended into a strained silence. A few moments later the door to her office opened and in walked three men. One was dressed green pin stripped suit with a lime bowler hat in his hand. Another was tall and dark and was wearing the most ridiculous costume in Harry's opinion along with a single gold hoop in one of his ears. Though the third man was also dressed in similar costume, his looked more official not to say with his mane of thick hair he did look more intimidating.

The man with the lime green bowler took one look at the potters and immediately was on guard and turned to Amelia and asked in a strained voice, "Amelia, what is the meaning of this?"

Amelia looked like she wanted to roll her eyes but refrained herself and said, "Minister, I am as curious as you and that's why I asked Auror Shacklebolt to bring in Veritaserum so that we may find out the truth. Now we just need to wait for Dumbledore. Once he comes, then we can begin." As she said that, the fireplace in the room came to life with the same funny looking green fire and the weirdest man Harry had ever seen stepped out of it and said while flicking his funny stick, "Sorry I'm late Amelia. What's the matter my dear? You sounded quite hassled. I had just come back from an errand when you floo called me." That said he turned to look at the other occupants of the room and like the man whom Amelia called Minister, he too paled the moment he saw the Potters sitting across from Amelia.

Amelia stood up from her seat and said, "As you can see Dumbledore, we have quite a situation upon our hands. Two people whom we knew to be dead are apparently alive. So naturally I wanted them to testify their claims under the effect of Veritaserum. So I asked you, Minister Fudge, Head Auror Scrimgeour and Auror Shacklebolt to be present here."

Despite being told to be quiet Harry couldn't contain himself and looked at the Minister and asked, "Sir, if your name is Fudge, then does that mean they named 'Hot Chocolate Fudge' after you?"

When all the adults in the room turned to look at him, he shrank back in his seat and said in a small voice, "Uncle Vernon got it for Dudley one day. It looked yummy but they didn't give me any of it. From the way Dudley spoke it sounded like it was very tasty."

It was like someone had released the pressure in the room. Every one of the room's occupant relaxed a bit without them knowing it. The man called Dumbledore turned to look at Harry with a warm smile on his face and said, "My dear boy, I'm sure it's just a happy coincidence. Though from the way you described it, I'm myself looking forward to trying that delectable desert. Perhaps you and I could both go out one day and try it together. Would you like that Harry?" when Harry turned to look at his parents, they both nodded with a smile on their faces, so Harry turned to look at Dumbledore and gave him a nod with a big grin on his face.

Dumbledore looked like Harry agreeing to come with him was the most wonderful news he had heard all day and with that he turned to Amelia and said in a calm voice, "Perhaps we should get the formalities out of the way Amelia?"

Amelia nodded and looked at the tall black man and nodded who in turn took out a small vial from his pocket came over to the Potters. James and Lily both looked at Harry and smiled telling him silently that everything was ok.

James then turned to look at everyone in the room and said, "The only questions we'll be answering would be with respect to proving our identities. You cannot ask us anything regarding our return as we are forbidden from sharing that knowledge."

The Minister looked like he wanted to argue but Dumbledore put his hand up stopping him and then turned to look at James and said, "That is acceptable to us and if I may be so bold, it was very wise on your part to have told us that beforehand as to be quite honest I was very curious about that topic and would have surely asked you about it. So thank you for the warning."

James looked at the tall black man and nodded who in turn opened the vial and proceeded to drop three drops of the clear liquid on both James and Lily's tongues. The effect was immediate as both James and Lily got a faraway glazed over look on their faces causing Harry to gasp in alarm. Dumbledore understanding Harry's alarm said in soothing manner, "Do not worry my boy. Nothing is wrong with them. They will just have to answer a few simple questions and then they will be back to normal".

When Harry nodded, he looked at both Amelia and Fudge who both nodded. So he turned back to the Potters and asked in a commanding voice, "Please state your full names."

"James Charles Potter", said James

"Lilly Marie Evans-Potter", replied Lily

Dumbledore had the markings of the beginning of a smile at their answer, but he anyway asked again, "On which day was your son Harry born?"

"31st July 1980", said both James and Lily in unison

At this both Dumbledore's and Amelia's faces broke into warm smiles but Dumbledore was apparently not done as he asked them another question.

"Who was your Secret Keeper?"

As Fudge looked like he wanted to protest, Dumbledore leveled a glare at him which quieted him immediately.

"Peter Pettigrew", replied the two yet again in unison.

This immediately made the rest of the occupants of the room gasp in surprise. It seemed to Harry that something was wrong since everyone's faces showed confusion and surprise at his parents' answer.

Dumbledore had a troubled expression on his face, but he seemed the most composed of the lot, so yet again it was he who asked the question.

"I remember you telling me that it was Sirius Black. Then how come you say it was Peter Pettigrew?"

It was James who replied. "I did tell you it was Sirius Black as that was what was decided. But Sirius convinced me that he would be an obvious choice as everyone knew how close he was to me. So he suggested that we make Peter the Secret Keeper and not tell anyone about it as that would keep Peter safe. Also nobody would believe that we would make Peter the Secret Keeper over Sirius. Both Lily and I agreed that it was a good plan, so we switched at the last minute. The only ones who knew about it were Lily, Sirius, Peter and Me since Remus was out of the country on Order business."

Harry didn't know what the big deal was but everyone in the room looked shocked to the core. Finally Amelia snapped out of her stupor first and said in a shaky voice, "Auror Shacklebolt, please administer the antidote."

The man she called Shacklebolt shook himself and came over to the Potters and pulled another bottle from his robes and like last time put three drops of the liquid on both Lily and James's tongue who immediately came back to their normal self and turned to look at Harry with a warm smile on their faces reassuring their son that they are indeed alright. But when they saw the confused look on Harry's face they immediately turned and looked at the faces of everyone else in the room. Understanding dawned on them both and James looked at Dumbledore and asked, "I take it from your expressions that you found out the truth about our Secret Keeper?"

When both Dumbledore and Amelia nodded, he looked at Fudge and asked, "Minister Fudge, now that you know the reality, would you mind sending word across to Azkaban so that my son can have his Godfather back as soon as possible?"

Minister Fudge though shocked still nodded and walked out of the room as if in a daze and as he left both Scrimgeour and Shacklebolt nodded to the Potters, Dumbledore and Amelia before following the Minister right behind him.

As everyone in the room looked rather uncomfortable over the silence, Dumbledore looked at Harry and asked, "So Harry, why don't you tell me about all the various candies and chocolates that you know of and like. You see I'm rather fond of candies and would certainly like to try out any new ones I might have missed."

Harry looked at his parents yet again who nodded encouragingly and with that Harry began to share his knowledge of candies and chocolates. Though Dumbledore's idea was to erase the tension and discomfort in the room while keeping Harry entertained, when Harry began to talk while referencing to how he knew about various candies for having seen his cousin eat, Dumbledore risked a glance in Lily's direction and realized a new meaning for the phrase, 'if looks could kill', for certainly the way Lily was looking at him it was clear that she wanted to tear Dumbledore into pieces and only the fact that Harry was in the room was stopping her from doing it.

Though for many, the phrase 'may you rot in hell' is nothing more than a phrase that they might read in novels or a work of fiction, for Sirius Black it was a real life experience. He had yet again just relived the whole fateful night when the world as he knew it ended for him.

When he had made the suggestion to James about choosing Peter as the Secret Keeper, he had done so because he wanted to keep his best friend, the woman he had come to see as a sister and his Godson safe. Instead that one suggestion had changed all their lives irrevocably.

Sirius still remembered that day. He had just come back from another mission of the order and had decided to take a nap. But somehow he had woken up a couple of hours later with a heavy feeling in his heart. Something was wrong. He could tell. So fearing the worst, he had gone to Peter's place only to find it empty and without any sign of assault or fight which made the feeling much worse as Peter had been specifically told that he was not to go outside.

So he started to James's place in Godric Hollow, all the while hoping that his gut feeling was wrong. His best friend and his family were safe. Peter really hadn't turned their back on them. What was worse was that Remus was away on an important order business, so he couldn't even call him. Remus was always the logical one in their group. Had he been there, he surely would've known what to do.

The sight that met his eyes could only be described as his worst nightmare. The house was in ruins. The entire portion of the first floor which he knew to be Harry's nursery was blown apart. With shaky legs he walked into the house, only to stop cold to see his best friend, his brother in all but blood, laying spread eagled near the stairs; his lifeless eyes looking at something invisible in horror and fear.

Sirius Black was a very blasé man. He wasn't much for emotions. But right then and there he was crying unabashedly for losing the closest thing he had to a family.

He somehow found the courage to walk over to James's body, where he collapsed to the ground and held James's body and cried. He didn't know how long he stayed like that. But eventually he put the body of his best friend gently on the ground and closed his eyes before slowly and shakily taking the stairs to Harry's nursery.

When he finally entered his Godson's nursery, he was so out of it that he didn't see the small boy leaning over the crib with silent tears in his eyes. Instead he zeroed in on the woman who lay below it. Lily who was the closest thing he had to a sister, his pseudo mother of sorts, was laying their lifeless, the marks of tears clearly visible on her face. It was then that he heard it. At first he thought he was imagining it but when he heard it again, he whipped his head up to stare into the emerald green eyes of none other than his Godson.

So shocked was he that it took baby Harry extending his little arms, sniffling and saying, "Pa'foo" to jolt him out of his senses. He rushed to the crib and picked up his Godson who by some miracle had managed to stay alive. He hugged the child and thanked Merlin for keeping him alive.

It was only when he turned that saw the burned black cloak that was lying on the ground still smoking slightly. He turned to look at his Godson who now looked on the verge of sleep. He now had a lightning bolt shaped scat on his forehead which was a bit bloody. Sirius touched and was shocked to find it hot to his touch. It was all too much for Sirius to comprehend. His Godson has somehow managed to not only survive an attack by the most feared Dark Lord of all time but also somehow defeated him by the looks of it.

He carefully put Harry on his shoulder were he promptly fell asleep. He then knelt down and closed Lily's eyes and muttered, "I promise that I will look after him Lily. I will protect him with my life. And I'll make sure that he remembers you and James. Please take care of James for me." With that said he made his way down the stairs. He once again paused a moment beside James's body not quite knowing what to do. Then he somehow pulled himself together for the sake of the child in his arms and made his way out of the house only to find Hagrid there.

He still remembered how he had tried to tell Hagrid that Harry was his responsibility but for some reason his half giant friend said that he had orders from Dumbledore to take Harry with him. He wanted to protest but then another part of him told that if he gave Harry to Hagrid, he would be free to track down the bloody traitor. So he reluctantly gave Harry to Hagrid after placing a kiss on his sleeping Godson's forehead and even gave him his bike so that he could get Harry to safety that much quicker.

Sirius opened his eyes and refused to think about what happened next but yet he did. He had managed to track down the bloody rat only to be outsmarted. Next thing he knew, he was waking up in Azkaban. He couldn't remember being given a trail so he waited as he knew he was innocent and didn't have anything to worry about. But no trail ever happened and no one ever came. Hours turned into days which then turned into weeks. Weeks then turned into months and eventually it became years.

Though Azkaban as a whole was bad but the two days when it became unbearable for him were Harry's birthday and Halloween. Today happened to be his Godson's seventh birthday. He should've been celebrating it with him yet here he was stuck in the place known as 'Hell on Earth' with no knowledge about how and where his Godson was.

Sirius suddenly felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He then heard footsteps approaching, meaning the Dementors had been moved so that Visitors may come and meet the Prisoners. 'Great! Another visit by my dear cousin' he thought bitterly. But to his surprise, a couple of guards came to stop outside his cell. One of them then opened the doors of his cell and then the two of them entered. He noticed that the one who didn't open the door was carrying what looked like a tied up bundle in his arms.

He looked at the guards questioningly. The one who had opened the door cleared his throat and said, "Mr. Black! We have just gotten a special order from the Minister of Magic himself. You have been acquitted of all charges and are hereby free to go. We have all of your old possessions here with us along with your wand and also a few necessities. You can use the shower in the warden's quarters if you want to clean up before you leave. If you come with us then we'll take you there."

Sirius just stared at the man too shocked to say anything. He must have seriously lost it if he was dreaming about being free of this place. He then heard the man tentatively place a hand on his shoulder. He flinched but this proved one thing. It was all real. It was happening. He was finally free. That meant that he could finally get back to Harry.

And it was that thought that propelled Sirius Black into action. Gone was the man who wallowed in self pity. He was now a man on a mission. His mission was to get back to his Godson as soon as possible. The sooner he left this place, the sooner he can do that. But first he needed to clean up. If he was going to go out in public, he can hardly do so in his current state.

So he silently held out his hands for his possessions and then followed the guards to the warden's quarters. He didn't give a second thought to the calls and jeers of the rest of the prisoners. According to him, they really weren't worth his time. In short order they reached the warden's quarter where there was hot water available for him to take a bath.

Almost an entire hour later, Sirius Black stepped out of the warden's quarter properly bathed, shaved and dressed up looking as clean as one can dressed in robes that were half a decade old and as fit as anyone who has spent five years facing their personal demons. Yet he was at least looking presentable enough to venture out in public.

Once he stepped out of the dreaded building, he saw someone waiting there. He walked up to the man who on seeing him, informed him that he was there to escort him back to the ministry where there was someone important waiting to meet him. Puzzled, Sirius just gestured for the man to lead the way. The two of them took a boat back across the sea to the dock from where they took a Portkey which took them straight to the reception area of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

The man informed Sirius that he was to go to the office of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in order to meet his visitor and then left to carry on with his work. With no small amount of trepidation, he walked over the office of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement where the Secretary just gestured for him to go into the room. He mentally shrugged and walked over to the door, opened it and then looked up and stopped dead in his tracks. His blood froze over and his breath hitched and then he fainted.

As the door to the room opened, every occupant of Amelia's office turned to look at the new entrant except what they saw was Sirius Black who was about to enter the room spotting the Potters and then stopping cold before fainting and falling to the ground.

Lily rushed to Sirius's side while James had trouble controlling his emotions. On one hand he wanted to double over laughing, as what happened was so typical of their younger years. On the other hand, seeing the man who was his brother in all but blood after all these years formed a tight knot of emotions in his chest.

Harry for his part just sat there confused looking at the man who seemed familiar but couldn't really place him. But seeing his mother rush over to help him confirmed his doubt that he must be a very good friend for his mother to react like that. He just hoped the man wasn't too badly sick.

Albus Dumbledore for his part just looked at the reunion of this family with misty eyes being reminded yet again how powerful the magic called Love was whereas Amelia looked really concerned to see Sirius react like that. He was one of the best Hit Wizards the ministry had during the time of the war and she prayed to Merlin that his time in Azkaban hadn't done too much damage to the talented wizard within him.

The first thing Lily did was to check for his pulse and heart beat, dearly praying that Sirius hadn't snuffed it just from the shock of seeing them. When she felt his heart beat and pulse thrum, she breathed a sigh of relief. Though she was a witch, she always remembered her roots from being a muggleborn and that was why she confirmed about Sirius's state using muggle methods rather than magic. Seeing as he had just fainted, she then used her wand and muttered "Enervate" while pointing it at Sirius to bring him back in to the world of conscious people.

The moment Sirius opened his eyes and spotted her, his eyes grew wide and he scrambled away from her and said in a fearful manner, "What is the meaning of this? What did you do to me? Are you one of those weird ones from the Department of Mysteries? You have injected me with some sort of crazy mind controlling potion haven't you? You had no right to do that! First I wasn't even given a trial and now this. What the bloody hell is the minister playing at?"

Suddenly James burst into laughter, falling down from his seat. This caught everyone's attention, including Lily and Sirius. Lily just looked at him with an expression of annoyance that said, "Really? That's how you react?" whereas Sirius just looked at the laughing James with wide eyes before suddenly shrinking back into himself and starting to cry unabashedly.

That brought James up short because he suddenly realized how this all must look to Sirius from his point of view, especially given what he had just said a couple of minutes ago. So he got up and quickly rushed over to the crying man and gathered him up in arms in a protective brother embrace and said in a soothing voice, "Padfoot! Shhh… It's alright mate. I'm here, look and nobody is going to do anything to Padfoot as long as Prongs is there. No one's done anything to you mate. I'm really here. Lily's here too and so is your Godson, Harry. Come one Padfoot! Pull yourself together. You don't want Harry teasing you once he's grown up over your crying. Come on now mate, let's get you settled comfortably."

And with that he managed to make Sirius stand and walked him over to the seat next to Harry and helped him sit and then went over and sat on the arms of the chair Lily was seated on. Lily just smiled warmly at her husband and squeezed his hand, silently appreciating him for doing this.

Sirius looked at the Potters yet again and shook his head before managing to croak out, "How?"

James just sighed and replied. "We really don't know mate. I guess something happened when Harry turned seven that somehow made our return possible. We weren't told a lot of stuff. Just enough to get us started. So once we made it back, we started by picking Harry up from Lily's sister's place and then came to the ministry to make our return legitimate and also to get you out of that hell hole."

Lily then cleared her throat and said, "Though I honestly want to smack you up the back of your head for running off like that and getting yourself captured and abandoning Harry, I'm just thankful that we can all put it behind now and start afresh." Sirius, who had his head bent low, looked up at Lily at that and nodded. The reality was that even if James and Lily forgave him for his actions, he never would.

Lily then turned to look at Amelia and Dumbledore and said, "I can't thank you both enough for making this all happen so fast. I know we have a lot to talk about. But I'd prefer if I could take my son home and celebrate what is left of his birthday properly."

Both Dumbledore and Amelia nodded in understanding whereas Sirius finally turned his attention on Harry and was about to say something when James put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Not here Padfoot. Let's go home. We can talk everything out there properly."

Sirius nodded his head in understanding and with that the entourage of Potters and Sirius Black walked out of Amelia's office and made their way out of the ministry to the stares of everyone. Once they reached a slightly secluded place, James whispered something in Sirius's ear who nodded and then James who took Harry's hand in his, twisted on the spot as did Lily and Sirius and they vanished with sounds of multiple pops.

The four of them reappeared on a dirt path. On one side of the path was a wooded forest; on the other side were a few trees that ran along a cliff. In the distance waves could be heard crashing down on some of the rocks and if one cared to stare past the tree line, one could see the ocean where the sun's golden beams of daylight were bouncing off of the blue water.

As the four of them started walking up the dirt path, the three older ones had wide smiles at the thought of being back at the place that was their home whereas young Harry was gazing at it all in wonder as to him it all looked like something out of a fantasy or dream. After a fifty feet trek, they reached a simple metal gate with a cursive golden 'P' atop a shield with the space for the one entering to place their hand into. On each side of the gate were two seven-foot tall pillars that each housed a stone statue. On the right pillar was Griffin standing tall and proud as if he was watching the ones entering the property in order to judge their worth. On the left was a Dragon, laying on all fours, watching the horizon, as if he were a sentinel guarding his King. On each side of the gate was a brick wall that carried to the tree line and well past it.

James walked ahead of all of them and placed his hand on the space in the shield and looked back and grinned as the gate glowed blue and then opened slowly. He then signaled to Harry to come up to him who jogged a bit so as to reach his dad faster. Once he was there, James put a hand on his shoulder and turned him toward the gate and gave a slight nudge while saying, "The Potter Manor Harry. What is and always will be your home."

It happened all of a sudden. The moment the four of them crossed the gate, they heard three pops as three house elves appeared in front of them. Harry, not having seen one of them before, screamed in surprise and fell on his butt which had all the elders chuckling slightly. The elves took one look at their visitors and promptly ran and hugged each and every one of them all the while muttering about missing their kind master and mistress and not believing what others told them about them dying.

The elves then turned to Harry and much to the surprise of the elders, tackled him in a group hug all the while saying, "How sorry they were that they couldn't find their young master and that they really tried all they could but to no avail."

Eventually Lily took pity on her son and ushered all of them toward the manor. When Harry saw Potter manor, his breath hitched in his throat making him pause and stare at it. Though he was never allowed to watch the Television at his relatives' place, he remembered magazines which his aunt bought in order to keep track of new style of houses if ever they needed to buy one. He had seen many pictures of large houses in those magazines. But none of those houses came anywhere close to what was right in front of him.

Seeing Harry's look of wonder, one of the elves who introduced him as Kip told Harry that the manor was built in Georgian style, in beige stone which was almost tan. He then told Harry that the manor was three floors tall and fourteen windows across ― five feet per window, with five feet in between each. He also pointed out the various balconies which were scattered about, as they hung over the side of the brown building. Once they reached the manor entry were there was a large double door, he told Harry that the doors were French and made of oak in an off white color with a knocker that was shaped like a Griffin's head.

While this was going on, Lily was talking to another elf called Pixie who was apparently the manor's cook. She told Pixie very clearly that Harry had been underfed all his life since their absence and that she would like to put him on a nutrient potion based diet from now on. Pixie glanced in Harry's direction and told Lily that she agreed that the young master was way too skinny for her liking and that she will make it her priority to have him back to his normal growth spurt at the earliest. Lily then remembered another thing she had wanted to do the moment she met the manor elves. She told Pixie that it was Harry's seventh birthday today and that though they would not be having any guests, she would like to make it a grand family affair. The moment she mentioned Harry and birthday, she saw an excited glint in Pixie's eyes and knew that her son was in for a very sweet surprise.

James and Sirius on the other hand were talking to Raffles who was more or less the one who took care of the manor grounds, the stables and the Quidditch pitch; both the indoor and outdoor ones. He was telling James and Sirius about the activity across the Cardigan Bay over the years and the news from the nearby reservation for Common Welsh Green Dragons.

As soon as all of them were inside, Kip asked Harry if he wanted to continue the tour of the manor to which Harry nodded excitedly. This was his home and he wanted to know everything about it. Though he couldn't understand most of the big words that Kip told him about, he had a general understanding about what he was being told. He then turned to ask his parents if it was okay for him to get the tour now for which Lily affectionately patted his head and said that it was more than okay.

So he then turned to Kip who beamed and then motioned for him to join him. Once they were gone, Lily told James and Sirius about her plan to throw Harry a small family only surprise birthday party for which both of them nodded excitedly whereas Pixie rushed off to the kitchen muttering under her breath about all the dishes she wanted to make for the young master.

Raffles thought he didn't have much that he could do for the young master's birthday so instead he turned to James and asked if he wanted him to get the animals from their stables on to the grounds where the young master could play with them. He had told James and Sirius that they currently had one young male Griffin and one older female Griffin, two young male Welsh Green Dragons, three Hippogriffs and Two Pegasi.

James and Sirius looked like the idea interested them. Seeing this, Lily immediately put an end to it by telling Raffles that since Harry had spent his time while in absence in the muggle world, it may not be a good idea to do it till they reoriented Harry about the wizarding world. Though she did tell him that he was welcome to join Kip in giving Harry a tour of the stables as long as all the animals were properly secure behind their fence wards.

Raffles agreed that it was a good point and soon turned and hurried to join Harry and Kip on their tour. This then gave the adults a chance to catch up. Needless to say there were a lot of emotions running high. The moment Raffles left the room both James and Lily rushed and embraced Sirius fiercely who returned the embrace with equal fervor. After that Lily gave him a proper dressing down for his actions after he handed over Harry to Hagrid calling him an ignorant git who refused to grow up.

Sirius for his part agreed that Lily was completely well within her rights to give him a piece of her mind. Once she was done, Sirius asked the most important question which to the relief of both James and Lily was what happened to Harry after he handed him over to Hagrid.

When the two of them were done explaining about Dumbledore's decision to place Harry with Lily's sister sighting the blood wards and Harry's treatment thereafter at the hands of Dursleys till they picked him up that morning, James had to physically restrain Sirius who was practically seething in anger over how those abominable muggles treated HIS Godson and force him back into his seat where Lily promptly bound him tightly.

Lily then told him that though he was correct on his part to react like that, he was partially responsible for Harry ending up there which promptly deflated Sirius and he slumped in his chair. Lily knew that it was a low blow, but she wanted to make him understand that he needed to think his actions through rather than letting his rage dictate his actions.

The talk then turned to the topic of James and Lily's return in which they told Sirius that apparently Harry had somehow made a wish about having his parents with him at midnight on his birthday without noticing the two shooting stars that crossed each other at that exact moment, which forced a strong magic to come to life forcing both Death and Fate into an argument in which Death eventually won and enforced the magic bringing them back to life and giving them a second chance at life but not before Fate put a stipulation that they only be given memories till the night they died along with a few additional ones like knowing where and how Harry was treated and what happened to Sirius so that they could not change too many events using their enhanced knowledge they got while they stayed with the dead on coming back to earth.

Sirius looked at them and shook his head and then asked James whether he had any fire-whiskey handy at the manor which broke the tension among them and all three of them shared a laugh. They then spoke about how they were going to explain about the wizarding world to Harry and what their future course of action needs to be. It was unanimously decided that Sirius would go to Gringotts next day and claim his family's headship and vaults as apparently he had received news that his mother had passed away a couple of years after he was sent to Azkaban. His father had died in a death eater raid's cross fire in Diagon alley during his seventh year whereas his grandfather had died of Dragon Pox soon after.

They also spoke about getting in touch with Remus Lupin, their other best friend while agreeing that they will have to wait for Peter to resurface before they could track him again. Soon the three of them went their separate ways to get fresh and prepare for Harry's birthday party. They could already see Pixie starting to do various decorations around the manor.

While all this was going on Kip was giving Harry a tour of the manor in its entirety. He explained to Harry about the maple wood flooring throughout the first two floors along with its lavish furnishing and earthly tones of greens, dark blues, bronze, pale gold and dull scarlet. There were a grand total of six bedrooms (a master bedroom with also had an attached nursery, a guest bedroom and four regular sized bedrooms all with en suite bathrooms), two studies, a sitting room, a living room, a family room, a dining room, a ball room, a magically expanded library and a kitchen; plus there were a few hidden rooms that were scattered about that Kip told Harry were Mistress Lily's specialty.

The basement was divided into four parts; a potions laboratory, a dueling and magical training area, a fully equipped muggle gym and an armory. The third floor was a surprise to Harry as it was charmed to be an indoor Quidditch pitch with the ceiling being charmed to show the sky while the floor was charmed to feel like grass adding to the effect of it being a real Quidditch pitch. When Harry asked about Quidditch, Kip told him that Master James was the best person to tell him about the game as apparently he was a very good Quidditch player himself and had played professionally for a while.

Kip then showed Harry the master bedroom whose walls were charmed to show the outside as if they were made of glass even though for anyone seeing from the outside they will only see the stone the house was constructed from.

After that Kip took him out the backdoor to give him a tour of the grounds, where he pointed out to Harry the fence like ring of trees that made the boundary. He also showed Harry the brick oven/ barbeque in the back yard that Lily had added so that they could cook like muggles in summer. He then showed Harry the Quidditch Pitch from where he took Harry off to the west side of the cliff that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean and pointed to the stairs that led down to the beach area.

He then pointed to Harry the water below the cliff and told him that that was the Cardigan Bay and then pointed to a group of mountains which were no farther than a few miles and told Harry that they were The Rivals and that it was where the reservation of the Common Welsh Green Dragons was. He also told Harry about Godric Hollow which was on the other side of the reservation, where his parents had gone into hiding. He then pointed to another mountain range a bit far off and said that it was the Snowdon and finally told Harry that they were located in Gwynedd, Wales; in Lleyn Peninsula to be specific.

He then told Harry that now he was about to show him the best part of the tour. It was then that Raffles popped next to them and looked at Kip and told him over their elf bond that he needed to decorate the manor for young master's birthday party and that he would give the young master a tour of the stables. Kip nodded and then turned to Harry and told him that he had some urgent work and that Raffles would give him the tour of the stables and that he was sorry to leave mid way. Harry just smiled and told him that it was alright.

Raffles then showed Harry to the stables which surprised Harry unlike anything. Harry couldn't believe his family had animals that one only read about in stories. He wanted to get close to them but Raffles told him that he was too young to do it now and also because he was new to the animals but that he will be able to do it soon enough once they got to know him better. Raffles then told Harry that it was time for lunch so he will take him inside. Harry nodded in agreement and Raffles popped him over to the master suite and left.

When Lily saw Harry she understood from the wide grin on his face that her son had really enjoyed the tour of the manor and the grounds. She then took him to the room next to theirs which she told him would be his. While Harry was gone, James, Sirius and she had transfigured and enlarged the room to make it like a young boy's room along with the help of Kip who assured them that young master would love the way the room was done. She then told Harry that he needed to take a bath and come down for lunch. When Harry started to go to the bathroom, she stopped him and asked him to stay still and then took his measurements magically and told him to go take a bath once she was done.

She then went back to her room and called for Kips and asked him to go to Madam Malkins and pick up a few regular and special dresses and robes for Harry and gave Kips the size, color and fabric details. Kip nodded and popped away. By the time, Harry came out of the bath Kip had popped back with a few clothes to get him started.

After that all of them came down for lunch which was a feast worthy of a King. Once they had eaten up to their necks, a fact that Pixie personally made sure, they moved to the family room where the three adults told Harry all about the wizarding world and their family in general, touching broad topics such as the government, different magical creatures and groups, Hogwarts, various professions, lifestyle and Quidditch. Needless to say by the time they were done, Harry could barely keep the grin off his face after having learned about who he truly was.

When it was nearing six in the evening, Lily asked Harry to go dressed in the attire that was on his bed because they had a surprise for him. Since young Harry never had a birthday party before that, he never caught on to this fact and dutifully went back to his room and got changed and came down only to be greeted by three adults and three house elves jumping in front of him and shouting 'Surprise'. He didn't understand at first but when Lily took him in a crushing hug and said, "Happy Birthday darling" he actually had tears in his eyes in happiness. Once Lily released him both James and Sirius pulled him into individual hugs and wished him. Even the elves gave him a joint hug.

Once they got through that, Pixie brought in a huge three tiered chocolate cake which Harry cut and personally fed everyone. Though his eyes were wet, he was grinning like a loon. In a day his life had changed completely. He was even more surprised when they all gave him gifts. James got him a new broom (a Comet two Sixty), Lily gave him a pair of smart new glasses which apart from being charmed to be auto corrective, water and dirt repellant and unbreakable was also specially charmed to see through any charm, ward, invisibility cloak or disguise. She had Kip pick up a pair from the magical optometrist and then added the special charms herself.

Sirius in his true fashion had gone completely wild and bought him a Great Dane puppy which Harry promptly named 'Pa'foo' much to the amusement of both James and Lily. They then had yet another huge feast. Apparently Pixie had taken Lily's words to heart as she personally made Harry eat second helpings of every single dish and desert she had made. What made it more comical was that she treated Sirius the same way, much to the grumbling of the man. This seemed to placate Harry whose smile never left his face. Seeing this James and Lily looked at each other, nodded and smiled. Yes, this was indeed how it was meant to be and how it will be. They will make sure of that.

A/N: Well first things first, Hello! I got the idea for this fanfic while I was working on the next chapter of 'Harry Potter and The Hero's Pledge'.

This is a story where Harry on his seventh birthday makes a wish at midnight without realizing that at that precise moment, two shooting stars were crossing each other in the sky outside the window of Number Four, Privet Drive setting into motion a chain of events that will make unprecedented changes to his whole life and destiny.

Happy reading!

madcrazystoryteller


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO – HARRY POTTER HAS COME TO HOGWARTS

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of this fan-fiction expect for the characters that I have created to fit the requirements of my story and even then I do not intend to use any of it for any financial or material profit.

"Look, there he is ―"

"He looks different somehow ―"

For the love of magic, Harry couldn't believe how morbidly curious people were of him and his family. What made it worse was that it was always like this.

Eleven year old Harry Potter was currently standing on platform nine and three quarters from where he was supposed to board the Hogwarts Express that would take him to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland. A boarding school where he would learn magic just like parents, godfather and uncle Moony did, when they were his age.

Just the thought made Harry feel warm inside. Looking back he couldn't help but wonder how the last four years had gone by so fast.

When his parents had apparently come back from the dead due to the wish he had made on his seventh birthday at midnight, his life as he knew it had changed irrevocably.

Initially despite the constant assurances of his mum, Harry had been pretty nervous and scared about angering or disappointing his parents lest they sent him back to his aunt and uncle's place. But that had changed. Or rather his mum had one day in quite a no non sense fashion told him that there was no way in hell that they would send him back to his aunt and uncle's house. Not even if he wanted and that he was stuck with them no matter what.

Everything had changed after that and soon Harry started opening up to them, constantly badgering them with questions about their life until the day when they had supposedly died. And to all their credit, they had not once seemed frustrated or annoyed with the way he had continuously questioned them.

The best and the worst part in Harry's view point was the way in which all of them outright spoiled him. One day his dad and Padfoot had actually sat him down all seriously and asked him to tell them about all the time he had pulled pranks on his friends and teachers and other kids at school.

When Harry had after a lot of thinking come up with only one instance in which he had turned his teacher's hair blue, both his dad and Padfoot looked at him indignantly and told him in the most serious voice possible that it was his birthright and duty to prank as many kids and teachers as possible when he went to Hogwarts.

They had actually gone and bought a part of the joke shop named Zonko's the next day; a fact which made his mum put her head in her hands and groan loudly. Harry had in all the seriousness a seven year old could muster had asked them why pranking was important?

This led to his dad and Padfoot teaching him the merits and uses of pranking by actually trying it out on him. Though Harry didn't like being the victim of their pranks, he was enjoying it way too much to actually complain to them.

Things only got better or rather worse depending on one's outlook, once Remus Lupin or 'Call me Moony, Cub' joined them at the manor. Apparently Padfoot, Moony, his dad and another friend of theirs named Peter were a tight knit group of friends from school who were popularly known as the Marauders and were famous for their pranking abilities.

It was Peter who had actually betrayed his parents which led to their death all those years ago and then put the blame on Sirius which led to his imprisonment.

Moony was at the time out of the country and so didn't know about all these events. By the time he came back and learned about it, it was all too late as Harry had already been placed with his relatives.

Grieve stricken over the loss of his best friends along with the added guilt and sadness over not being able to raise Harry, Moony had left the country in order to start his life elsewhere. It was only when he read the new about his parents' return and Padfoot's name being cleared that Remus dropped everything he was involved in and rushed back to his friends.

When he had learned about Harry's life till his seventh birthday, he had actually hugged Harry and cried his heart out, mumbling apologies for not being there and only stopped it when Harry told him that since he didn't know about it, it was not his fault.

But it wasn't all fun all the time. Since he was not going to school anymore, his mum had made it a point to home school Harry. It wasn't that there weren't any good schools nearby or anything. Just that it wasn't an option anymore to Harry.

Apparently Harry was famous. Why? Because he had managed to survive an attack by the most feared dark wizard of all times at just little over a year old when his parents had actually been killed.

They actually called him the "Boy Who Lived". Add to that fact that his parents came back from the dead and it was impossible for Harry to have a peaceful outing in the wizarding world without being bombarded by questions or people who tried to shake his hands or take his pictures.

His parents thought that it wasn't worth the risk to send him to a muggle school only for the reporters to follow Harry there and hence the home schooling. Although he had to take the year end exams as an independent candidate to make sure his education was both formal and recognized.

In fact the only positive thing about all this excess press in Harry's view was how it helped Moony to learn about them and saved them the time and effort to look for him. Everything apart from that one point was in Harry's opinion nothing but unnecessary and unwanted attention along with extra pressure.

Further of musings on Harry's part were cut short when he heard a familiar voice calling his name. He turned and smiled when he saw his best friend Neville Longbottom walking up toward them, along with his grandmother.

This was another thing that changed in Harry's life due to the return of his parents. Once things had settled down a bit, his parents along with Padfoot and Moony had gone over to the Longbottoms' were he had met Neville and had found out that Neville was the godson of his parents and that Neville's mother was his godmother.

Neville was living with his grandmother because his parents had been tortured into insanity by Padfoot's cousin and her husband and brother in law, who were all followers of Lord Voldemort, the dark wizard who had tried to kill him.

Needless to say, the two lonely boys very quickly became the best of friends to the point where Neville ended up spending most of his time at Potter Manor and also joined Harry in learning from his mother. Soon Neville had transformed from a shy introvert boy to a young man who loved spending time with his best friend and god parents and even partook in the various pranking plans that Harry came up with.

But like with Harry's mother, Neville's grandmother took it upon herself to instruct Harry and Neville in the proper ways in which the Heirs of prominent Pureblood families were supposed to conduct themselves while in public. What surprised Harry was that how much his dad and Padfoot had to offer on this front. It seemed that it was a general tradition in Pureblood families to teach all this stuff to the young children.

When Neville and his grandmother finally reached them, Harry cheerfully said, "Hey Nev! All set? Is Trevor still with you?"

Neville just chuckled and took out a toad from his pocket and said, "Yup! At least for now he is. Where's Fido? I don't see him anywhere."

Harry just shrugged and said, "Ah well, you know him. He'll find me when he is done wandering around."

At precisely that moment, a huge thunder was overheard and a magnificent bird in a combination of blue, white and silver swept down and settled down on Harry's shoulder and bumped his head affectionately.

As the crowd on the platform watched in awe, Harry just grinned and said, "Hey Fido! You good to go mate?" to which the bird simply bobbed its head.

This was another addition to his life for which Harry was eternally grateful. Like everything else in his life, the story of how he came upon Fido was again what some would call as amazing or never heard of before.

Harry still remembered the camping and trekking trip to the Canadian mountain ranges after his seventh birthday, when he had reunited with his parents. His parents thought that it would be a good idea for them to spend some time away from Britain so as to avoid the unnecessary attention of the press.

So a week after they had come to the manor, Harry along with his parents and Sirius had gone on a trekking trip to Canada. For Harry who had never been on a holiday before, this was like a dream come true. They had lots of fun as they used to set up camp at the end of every day's trek.

It was on the fourth day of their trip that Harry got this irresistible urge to wander off in a particular direction as if he was being drawn to a particular spot. When he told his parents that, initially they were worried, but then reluctantly agreed to at least check what it was all about.

It took them a short trek of an hour to reach the place that Harry kept getting drawn to. When they reached the wooded clearing, Harry couldn't help but gasp. For resting calmly at the base of one of the trees was the most magnificent bird he had ever seen.

Now Harry was not an idiot by means. He was fairly good at school, despite what the Dursleys thought. But whatever he knew about different birds, Harry was sure that this was bird was not one of them. And going by how his parents and Sirius were talking, it seemed to him that the bird was very special.

Finally the bird turned its head and looked at them and when Harry met its black eyes, he felt as if bird was trying to find out if he had done something wrong and that if he had, then it would punish him. Harry had to try very hard to not feel nervous.

That was funny considering he knew that he had done nothing wrong. The bird then opened its wings that were a mix of blue, white and silver and brought them together as if it was clapping and a huge gust of wind blasted them off their feet, making leaves and debris fly in the air.

When finally the wind had settled down and the four of them had gotten back on their feet. The bird silently took flight and landed on Harry's shoulder, as if it couldn't think of any place more comfortable. What surprised harry was that despite its size, the bird practically weighed nothing.

Then again, the bird locked eye with him and to Harry's shock, he heard a voice in its head making him gasp.

"Greetings youngling, I can't tell you how long I have waited for this moment to appear. Do you know what I am?"

When Harry shook his head, he heard the voice again in his head.

"I'm what your kind calls a thunderbird."

Seeing Harry's confusion, the bird continued talking in his head.

"I'm a magical bird youngling. I have the ability to create thunderstorm and lightning. The reason I'm able to talk to you is because I'm compatible with your magic, meaning I can become your familiar if you agree."

Not knowing what else to do, Harry spoke out aloud.

"What do you mean when you say you are compatible with my magic and what does a familiar mean?"

His parents and Sirius not having heard, the bird's explanation to Harry, looked at him uncertainly before Lily asked, "Harry, sweetheart what are you talking about? Did the bird say something to you because we did not hear anything?"

Harry nodded looking at his mother before he looked back at the bird waiting for the answer to his question.

"I don't know how to tell it in a way you would understand youngling, but I will try. When I said I was compatible with your magic, I meant that we would be what you humans call good friends."

"Everyone is different youngling and so is their magic. The nature of who you are as a person is a major factor in determining how your magic develops. You my dear youngling are very loyal to those who matter to you. You do not like fighting or confrontation yet you will not hesitate to fight for those who matter to you or for what you feel is right. I am also like that."

"As for what is a familiar, every witch or wizard sometime buy a bird or an animal, which for the lack of a better term becomes their true companion who provides them support and council, as and when they need it."

Harry nodded in understanding. It all somehow made sense to him. He then turned to look at the bird and asked, "But why would a special bird like you want to become my familiar? I mean I'm Harry, just Harry?"

Harry could hear his parents chuckling softly, but it was the way bird suddenly tilted its head, that somehow gave Harry the feeling that it was quite amused by Harry's question. Harry huffed and said, "There's no need for you to laugh. Just answer the question."

The bird bobbed its head and before replying in Harry's head. "I'm sorry youngling; I didn't mean to insult or mock you. I was just wondering how to explain it to you properly. Let's just say that the fact that you call yourself as just Harry is more than reason enough for me to want to become your familiar."

Suddenly the bird become straighter and said in Harry's head in a serious tone. "Now youngling, as much as I want to talk to you, we need to first get the important things out of the way. So do you agree to me becoming your familiar youngling?"

Harry looked like he was thinking, before he said, "What do I have to do if I agree to you becoming my familiar? Also I will only agree if you call me as Harry. I'm seven you know. I'm not all that young."

The bird spoke in Harry's head in an amused tone. "Fair enough Harry. As for what you have to do, you have to give me a name and then say that I swear upon my magic to accept followed by the name you chose for me, followed by as my familiar and to be an honest companion and partner and to never threaten the integrity of the familiar bond by using it for personal gain."

To the astonishment of his parents and Sirius, Harry simply nodded and said, "Alright that is simple. Now do you like the name Fido? It's fun."

The bird tilted its head and bobbed its head in agreement following which Harry said the vow and with that Fido the thunderbird, became Harry Potter's familiar.

Harry happily turned in the direction of his parents and Sirius only to find his mother looking extremely unhappy, whereas his father looked torn between wanted to be proud and scolding him. Sirius simply looked at him grinning and showed him thumbs up indicating that he was fine with Harry having a familiar.

Harry turned to his mother and hung his head and said, "I'm sorry mum. I know I should have asked you. If you want I'll ask Fido to go. But please don't send me back to Aunt Petunia's house."

Harry knew that he had somehow angered his parents. Not even a week after they came back for him and he had to go do something based on a bird's advice. Now his mum and dad were angry at him and he was sure that they were going to send him back to his relatives.

That was why Harry was surprised when he felt his mother lifted his face up and kneeling in front of him and saying, "Sweetheart, I'm not going to send you there, no matter what happens. I am not angry at you for accepting Fido as your familiar, but for being careful in the first place. Agreed that it was safe for you in this case, but you need to be careful. You can't just go running into everything like this. Ok?"

Harry nodded and was about to say something, when he heard Fido's voice in his head, "Harry, tell your mother that there is something she needs to know."

So Harry looked at his mother and said, "Mum, Fido says that there is something you need to know."

When Lily, James and Sirius looked at Fido, Fido looked at them all one by one before speaking in Harry's head.

"Harry, tell your parents and godfather that the dark one that came after your family left a piece of his soul in you, the night he attacked you and your family."

Harry confused, looked at his parents and said, "Fido says that the dark one that came after our family left a piece of his soul in me, the night he attacked me."

Harry didn't know why but the moment he stopped speaking the three of them rushed over to his side and looked terrified. His mother was actually starting to cry whereas both his father and Sirius looked like as if they were experiencing their worst nightmare.

Finally his mother somehow said, "How ― How? Is there anything we can do? Can it be removed?"

Harry was sure that she was asking Fido because he really did not know what she was talking about. Thankfully Fido seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as he said in Harry's head, "I can remove it from Harry. But it will take a lot out of Harry. He will end up being unconscious for a few days due to magical exhaustion."

Harry relayed what Fido told him to his parents and Sirius, for which his mother immediately said, "Do it. I don't want any part of that sick twisted monster inside my baby."

Fido bobbed his head and said in Harry's head, "Then we should go back to your place of permanent settlement as Harry will need to be in a resting position before I can attempt to remove the dark one's soul piece from him."

When Harry told what Fido had told him, his parents immediately decided to trek back but yet again, Fido spoke in Harry's head.

"Harry, travelling by your way might take longer. Ask your parents and godfather to merely hold your hand and I will take us all to the place you came from today, immediately."

So once Harry's parents and Sirius did as Fido said, Fido just hovered over Harry's head and held on to his collar by his claws and just snapped his wings together. Next thing Harry knew was that he felt as if being dunked in an ocean of extremely cold water. The sensation was gone before Harry could take a complete breath. But when his feet touched solid ground, he was actually shivering from the cold.

When he looked up, he saw their tent standing right where they had pitched it; warm and inviting. Once they all were inside the tent. Fido spoke in Harry's head again. He was sitting on the arm of the sofa that Harry was sitting on. James and Lily were sharing a love seat while Sirius was sitting in another one seater sofa.

"Now, as I mentioned earlier, when I remove the dark one's soul piece from you Harry, you will need to rest properly in order to recover from magical exhaustion. Also, once I remove the soul piece, the wound will need to be healed immediately. Since, the wound was caused by dark magic, normal remedies will not work on it. You will need Phoenix tears in order to heal them. Without that, even attempting to remove the soul piece from within you could be dangerous to you."

As soon as Harry relayed what Fido said to the others, they all immediately stood up and started packing. When Harry asked as to why they were cutting their holiday short, Sirius replied by saying, "Pup let's remove that bastard's soul piece from within you as soon as we can. After that we can go on as many holidays as you want. In fact I promise you that I'll buy you the entire Zonko's if you want."

It was a testimony to how serious the situation was that his mum had not reprimanded Sirius for swearing in front of Harry. Though Harry did not understand the reason for their nervousness, he did trust them to do what was right.

And within moments they were all packed to go. So when his father asked them to hold his hand to Portkey back to the manor, Fido again offered to take them there. Though his parents and Sirius looked like they wanted to say no, they agreed that it was the fastest way to do it. So a cold icy trip later, they found themselves in the living room of the manor.

Their arrival seemed to have notified the elves, as Kip, Pixie and Raffles soon appeared in front of them. Raffles took one look at Fido and started bouncing from foot to foot muttering excitedly whereas both Kip and Pixie were staring at Fido in awe.

Once everyone had recovered his mum immediately asked Kip to put away their luggage and then asked Raffles to bring a parchment and quill. She then asked Pixie to start preparing dinner for everyone.

When Raffles brought her the parchment and quill, she wrote a quick letter and handed it to Raffles and said, "Please take this letter to headmaster Dumbledore at Hogwarts immediately."

Raffles nodded and popped away to deliver the letter and the occupants of the room settled down in the living room. The tension in the room was palpable. Sirius was sitting in one of the sofas staring into the fireplace lost in some thought. His parents were both curled up on the couch, as if they were taking strength from being next to each other. Harry for his part was gently petting Fido and from the way Fido's eyes were closed, it seemed as if he was enjoying Harry's attention and affection.

When Harry finally turned his attention to his parents, he asked, "Mum, what is going on? Why did you ask Raffles to give that letter to headmaster Dumbledore?"

Though it looked like Lily did not want to answer at first, she eventually sighed and said, "Sweetheart, remember what Fido said about the soul piece?" when Harry nodded, she continued, "It is very important that we remove it darling and remove it as soon as we can."

"Headmaster Dumbledore has a familiar just like you have Fido, only his is a phoenix. Once we tell him what Fido told us, I'm sure he would be more than happy to ask his familiar to help us."

Harry nodded and then looked confused as if he just spotted a problem in the plan and asked, "But what if his familiar didn't want to help us?"

To his surprise, it was Padfoot who answered. "Don't worry about that Pup. I'm sure the headmaster's familiar would help us. If not, then I'll personally wring the bloody bird's neck and get it to give us some tears." And then he grinned at Harry.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle, but his mum was not amused and said, "Sirius don't―"

But she couldn't finish as Padfoot, cutting off her response said, "Don't even pretend like you would hesitate to do the exact same thing for a second Lils. I know it won't come to that but we all know that if worse came to worse, you won't mind threatening the bird with its life in order to get it to help us."

Any further talk or response was cut short by the arrival of the headmaster who literally for the lack of a better word in Harry's vocabulary fired into the room holding the tail of a bird that was red and gold in color. Without waiting, the headmaster looked at his mum and said, "Lily! What is it? I came as soon as I could and why did you ask me to bring along Fawkes?"

His mother merely looked at his father and then turned and looked at him. The headmaster following her line of vision turned in Harry's direction and immediately gasped. It was only after his mother called his name a couple of times did the headmaster respond and even then his response was a single word ― "Remarkable."

Harry was quite frankly feeling uncomfortable in the way the headmaster was looking at Fido, like he was some kind of rare treasure. Even though he hadn't known Fido for one full day, the familiar bond was making him feel quite possessive. So Harry looked at his mother, who nodded in encouragement along with a smile on her face.

Harry stood up and waited for Fido to hop onto his shoulder and once he did, he looked at the headmaster and said in a proud tone of voice like he was showing off his favorite thing, "Hello Sir! This is Fido, my new familiar. He is a thunderbird."

Now many might think that the way in which Harry introduced Fido was odd, but headmaster Dumbledore was not one of them. He merely looked at Harry with twinkling eyes and said, "Hello Harry and congratulations on acquiring such a wonderful familiar. Thunderbirds are amongst the rarest of magical birds in existence Harry. Do take care of him properly and if it is not too rude, can I touch him once?"

Harry looked at Fido who merely bobbed his head silently, so Harry looked at the headmaster and said, "Yes Sir, you can touch him."

The expression of sheer joy on the headmaster's face told Harry that he had just made the old man's day. Headmaster almost ran up to harry and carefully started petting Fido while his familiar started cooing soft music that made Harry unconditionally happy.

After a few moment of happily petting Fido, the headmaster turned to look at his mum and said in a serious tone, "You still haven't told me why you asked me to come here urgently Lily. Something tells me that Harry forming a familiar bond with Fido is not the reason for the distress that was quite evident in your letter. Not to mention you also wrote that it was about him."

So for the next few minutes, he was told about everything that Fido had told them about with respect to the soul piece inside Harry. By the end of it, the headmaster looked more distressed than his mother. He actually started pacing the room for a while and then finally looked at his parents and said, "Forgive me please. But when I placed him with Petunia, despite Minerva's urging, I did not do anything about the scar on Harry's forehead because though I knew that it was somehow connected to dark magic, I wasn't sure about what it was."

This seemed to be the wrong thing to say as his mum immediately stiffened and said in a tightly controlled voice, "Believe me when I say it Albus, you not checking on Harry's scar is the least of my issues when it comes to Harry's life during our absence."

The headmaster merely nodded his head somberly and turned and looked at Fido and asked, "Are you sure you can relieve Harry of the soul piece my friend?" for which Fido merely nodded. Dumbledore simply nodded and then again looked at his parents and said, "Then it is best we get on with it. The sooner we free Harry of this terrible fate, the sooner we all can be at peace."

As they all got up, Pixie popped into the room and announced that dinner was ready and so after a round of hurried dinner, they all went up to Harry's room where he lay down on the bed, as told by Fido who was sitting next to Harry's pillow. Fido then spoke in Harry's head in a calming voice.

"Now Harry I want you to relax as much as you can. I will try my best, but it will still hurt and for that I'm sorry. As for what I will be doing, I will merely shoot a spark of lightning which is powered by the magic within me on your scar. As I do this your family should speak soothing and loving words to you in order to make sure you stay conscious while the headmaster should try to ensure that the soul piece doesn't escape or affect anyone else. Once the soul piece is destroyed, the phoenix should immediately shed its tears onto your scar to heal it properly."

Once Harry had relayed Fido's instructions to everyone, all of them took their respective places and signaled to Fido to start. What followed was the most agonizing and most painful memory of Harry's life. He wasn't sure how long it took. It might have been minutes or it might have been hours. He vaguely remembered his parents, Padfoot and Fido telling him how much they loved him and cared for him. He also thought he heard someone scream wildly. But then it all stopped all at once and the last thing before he fell asleep was of feeling something wet on his forehead while Fido saying, "Sleep peacefully Harry. I shall look after you myself."

It was three days before Harry woke up and immediately Harry could feel the changes in his body. He could see without glasses and he felt like a weight had been lifted of his shoulders. Surprisingly it was headmaster Dumbledore who seemed to be the happiest of everyone now that Harry was free of the soul piece. Though it was quickly determined that he was back to full health, both his mum and Pixie kept fretting over him for almost a month. Only the arrival Moony brought an end to their fretting over him and that was largely because they now had someone new to fret over.

The sound of the train's warning sounded signaling that it was time for them to board the train. So Harry quickly said his goodbyes to his parents, Padfoot and Moony. His mum did her last minute fretting over him before pulling him into a tight hug and kissing his forehead while making him promise that he would concentrate on his studies and stay out of trouble. Other boys his age would have been embarrassed to be treated this way by their mother, but not Harry.

For Harry it was a constant reminder that he now had a family that cared for him. His dad, Padfoot and Moony for their part merely wished him good luck and in hushed tones told him that he had a pranking legacy to carry forward and that they fully expected him to live up to their expectations. Harry merely chuckled and promised them that he would do his best to prank as many people as possible.

This was another advantage of growing up with adults who were legendary pranksters during their school days. What was surprising was to Harry was that even his mum had joined the rest of the adults in encouraging him to play pranks, only she asked him to make sure that he wasn't mean or vicious with his pranks, which Harry assured her he wouldn't be.

Just as Harry was packing his new trunk for school, his parents, along with Padfoot and Moony had come into his room and given him a few things that Harry was sure that other kids his age could only dream off.

His father had given Harry an invisibility cloak that was apparently a family heirloom telling him that it was tradition in the family that it was passed down from father to son and that he expected Harry to put it to good use, though it was the next gift that left Harry truly speechless.

Padfoot in a rare show of seriousness had given harry what looked like a blank parchment and told him that it was secret to the success of marauders while they were at Hogwarts. On Harry's blank look he took the parchment from Harry's hand and touched the parchment lightly with his wand and said, "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._"

And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that Padfoot's wand had touched. They joined each other, they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top; great, curly green words, that proclaimed:

_Messrs. Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs _

_in association with _

_Miss. Pride_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

are proud to present

**THE MARAUDER'S MAP II**

It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing about the map, were the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labeled with a name in minuscule writing. Astounded, Harry bent over it. A labeled dot in the top left corner showed that Professor Dumbledore was pacing his study; the caretaker's cat, Mrs. Norris, was prowling the second floor; and Peeves the Poltergeist was currently bouncing around the trophy room.

"Woah!" was the only response Harry could come up with. With eyes as wide as saucers, he looked at his parents, Padfoot and Moony and asked, "You mean to tell me that you guys made an actual magical map of Hogwarts that shows every place and everyone inside the castle with active movements?"

Padfoot in his usual fashion had preened and said in a haughty voice, "But of course! What else did you expect from the great marauders?"

Harry for his part had simply shook his head and looked down at the map. Then something caught his eye, so he looked up at them and asked, "But you said that your fourth friend was Peter. Then why isn't his name here on the map?"

As the adults in the room became uncomfortable with Harry's question, it was Moony who finally answered. "His name used to be there but since the traitorous rat betrayed us all, we decided that we wanted no part of him in our lives. Hence we made a new map."

"If you see the map properly, it says THE MARAUDER'S MAP II. The original map had his marauder name which was Wormtail since he was a rat Animagus. That Map was confiscated by Filch when we were in our final year and frankly by then we had memorized all the secret passages. Since you are starting Hogwarts we wanted you to be able to pull pranks without getting caught. After all how would it look if someone who happens to be a son of one marauder, godson and honorary godson of two other marauders was caught pulling a prank? Not good. So we took out our old map notes and replaced Wormtail with your mum and voila, THE MARAUDER'S MAP II.

Harry had become so emotional that he had actually hugged them all silently. Normally you had parents who asked their kids to stay out of trouble. His family on the other hand had not only encouraged him to have a good time by playing pranks but also did whatever they could in helping him pull of pranks successfully.

But that hadn't been all. They had then given Harry what looked like a simple hand mirror and told him that it was a communication mirror which activated when he said their respective marauder names allowing them to talk to him even while he was at Hogwarts. Harry knew he could easily send a letter with Fido or Hedwig (the snowy owl his parents had bought for the purpose of exchanging letter with him while at Hogwarts as they all agreed that using Fido to exchange letters regularly was way too flashy), but this simply was the best of the three gifts in his opinion as it allowed him to feel that much closer to his family.

As the train's final warning sounded, he quickly hugged his parents, Padfoot and Moony and joined Neville on the train while mum shouted him to mirror call her or at least send them a letter as soon as he was sorted. Harry simply shouted back in agreement and with a final wave to his family had followed Neville in searching for a compartment to sit. The fact that he had Fido on his shoulder ensured that people gave him a wide berth.

The two of them managed to find an empty compartment toward the back of the train and once they were inside, they quickly locked the door and then the two of them took out their wands took their respective shrunken trunks from their pockets and resized it. They then put it into the overhead luggage rack.

This was another thing that the two boys had been asked to keep quiet about by their families. Soon after Harry's recovery from the removal of soul piece, his family along with headmaster Dumbledore had sat him down and told him that the dark wizard Lord Voldemort whom the world believed dead was not apparently dead and that when he came back he was bound to come after Harry.

So Harry was about to be put on a training regimen that will help develop his body and magic after which he would be given training in magic so as to give him an advantage to protect himself.

When Harry asked them as to why Voldemort would come after him, they had told him that he would be told when he got a little older. Harry had merely shrugged and agreed to it because it would allow him to learn magic sooner than the kids his age and that actually excited him.

When he had become friends with Neville, the other boy had quickly joined him in training owing to the encouragement from his grandmother. Needless to say, when the two boys had been initiated into magical lessons, they both had soaked up all of it like a sponge. Harry and Neville were both a flawless combination with each boy backing the other.

Harry was at his best when it came to using charms and transfiguration creatively while Neville provided the perfect backup with his powerful conventional usage of charms, curses and jinxes.

Even though they were just starting their first year at Hogwarts, they were well on par with those that were about to start their fourth year. But both boys had been told about the importance of keeping their knowledge and prowess a secret so as not give the press any reason to point fingers at them.

But it hadn't been just about fancy wand work. Harry's mum had taken it upon herself to tutor both the boys in Potions and Herbology. Since Potter Manor had an extensive forest line and Longbottom Hall had nice greenhouses, the two boys were able to get hands on training in learning about various magical plants and potion ingredients.

As for Magical Creatures, Moony and Raffles were both more than willing to teach Harry and Neville about various creatures that were there at the manor along with several others that Moony was able to procure for their training.

Suffice to say that Hogwarts about receive a very special surprise in the form of Harry and Neville.

But it wasn't all training all the time for the two boys. James had taken it upon himself to train Harry and Neville in Quidditch. While Harry took to it like a fish to water, it had become clear very soon that Neville wasn't one for flying. Even Lily training him separately didn't help his cause. That was not to say Neville didn't have any fun.

Neville made up for his lack of fun in flying by being extra enthusiastic when it came to pranking; a fact which seemed to please the marauders enormously.

"You know, even after all these years I still can't believe aunt Lily actually said that to Ollivander." Mused Neville out of the blue, bringing Harry out of his stupor and making Harry chuckle.

As with everything else in Harry's life, the story of Harry being matched for a suitable wand was also nothing short of scandalous.

It was soon after Neville and he had turned nine when headmaster Dumbledore had finally come to Potter Manor and informed them that he had finally managed to get the permission required to allow Harry and Neville to buy wands couple of years earlier than they were supposed to actually.

Though the headmaster had assured them they would get the permission from the minister quite easily, both Neville and Harry had still been tense. Not to mention, the short episode when Neville's grandmother had wanted him to use his father's wand in honor of his memory. It took a trip from his parents to convince Neville's grandmother that Neville was his own person and as such he deserved a wand that matched him perfectly.

So next day, Neville and Harry had been escorted to Ollivanders by Harry's parents, Padfoot and Moony.

Neville had gone first and had gotten the perfect wand on his third try. It was made from a combination of cherry wood and unicorn hair core and twelve inches in length.

Then came Harry's turn and what followed was almost an hour of Mr. Ollivander offering him a wand and immediately plucking it out of him before he could even wave it. At long last, he found a match in a holly and phoenix feather wand that was eleven inches in length.

Harry was truly delighted because the moment he held the wand in his hand he had a feeling like he was finally complete.

Just when he was about to turn to look at his parents, Mr. Ollivander had dropped the shocking tid-bit that apparently that the phoenix whose tail feather was in his wand, gave another feather — just one other. That other feather was used in a wand made of yew which was thirteen and half inches long. Only that wand belonged to none other than Voldemort which meant that Voldemort and Harry's wands were brother wands.

The reaction to that news was immediate. His mum immediately looked at him and said, "Harry, sweetheart, please give the wand back to Mr. Ollivander." And then turning to Mr. Ollivander, she said in a no non sense voice, "Mr. Ollivander, please tell us the cost of the wand. We'll buy it, but we won't be taking it. I know how you think of wands, but I hope you understand when I say Harry won't be using it. So I sincerely urge you to either destroy it or make sure that that wand never comes out in circulation."

Mr. Ollivander had tried to convince his parents to let Harry use that wand but for once all four of the adults had come to a unanimous decision that Harry will not be using that wand.

Mr. Ollivander had very grudgingly admitted since that wand had best suited Harry any other wand that he let Harry try won't be providing such good results.

So it was decided that Harry would be taken to Germany to meet this foreign wandmaker Gregorovitch who according to Padfoot was equally as good as Ollivander.

When Harry had returned to the manor that day, sensing his distress Fido had shed one of his tail feathers in Harry's hands and told him that he should give that tail feather to the foreign wandmaker and ask him to craft a custom wand using that.

A few days later Harry accompanied by his parents and Padfoot had went to Germany to meet Gregorovitch who had already been informed about Harry's arrival. On reaching the old wandmaker's store, Harry gave him the tail feather that Fido provided and requested him to craft a custom wand.

Once Gregorovitch had take Harry's measurements, he made Harry hold the tail feather and asked him hold his hand over the bottomless bag which carried his collection of wand woods. Harry ended up choosing White Ash wand wood which Gregorovitch told him would complement Fido's tail feather perfectly.

Harry was then asked place his right hand on a translucent white orb which Gregorovitch had brought over from one of the cupboard which would help determine the runes that best compliment Harry's magic and could be carved on the wand.

Harry did as he was asked of him and the result made even Gregorovitch take a sharp breath in surprise. Harry became worried as Gregorovitch had told him that only the runes that suited him were supposed to glow whereas here the entire orb was glowing.

Seeing his worried look Gregorovitch said, "Mr. Potter there is nothing to be worried about. Your magic is so profound that despite finding such a strong core and wood match, your magic still wants to be channeled properly without any dire consequences and hence your magic called forth every protective and enhancing rune that could be etched on the wand. It is a testimony to your pristine heart and soul Mr. Potter that even your magic wishes to abide by it."

Gregorovitch then informed them that it would take about five hours for him to finish the wand, so Harry along with his parents and Padfoot left the shop and spent the next five hours wandering down the magical shopping district of Berlin.

Harry and company returned just in time to see Gregorovitch polishing the finished wand, which by the time he was done was a dark gray color and twelve inches long with a grip that looked suspiciously like it had a Thunderbird's wings wrapped around it while the head took the place of the bottom end of the wand.

Upon noticing Harry, Gregorovitch held the wand out for Harry to hold and the moment Harry held it in his hand he felt rush of power he had felt when he had first flown on a broom; such was the exhilaration he felt. In fact the moment Harry held the wand his entire body was encompassed in a brilliant white and silver glow.

Gregorovitch looked like he hadn't been this happy, ever. His parents were smiling at him proudly and happily. Padfoot had let out a whoop of joy. Gregorovitch had even given Harry a dragon hide wand holster with Anti Disarming and Anti Summoning charms as a token souvenir.

They then paid the price of twenty-five galleons for Gregorovitch's services and left the store happily to get back to the manor.

Harry twirled the wand in his hand smiling at the memory of it. He had to agree with what Remus had said upon seeing his wand. It really was a work of art.

As the Hogwarts Express moved past the city limits, the two friends settled and started talking about what they could expect at Hogwarts. A little while later the door to their compartment slid open to reveal a girl who was already dressed in her Hogwarts robes standing there with her trunk in one hand and a book in another. She had lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth. She looked at the two of them and asked in a rather bossy sort of voice.

"Is there anyone apart from you two in this compartment?"

When both Harry and Neville looked at her and shook their heads, she stepped into the compartment sliding the door closed and dragging in her trunk with her and then promptly sat down next to Neville after she had put her trunk in the overhead luggage rack after a little bit of struggle.

Both Neville and Harry looked at each other with raised eyebrows but neither knew how to respond. The girl had only asked if there was anyone else apart from them in the compartment but she never asked them if it was alright if she joined them. Yet, she just came in and sat down like it was perfectly normal to intrude upon someone's privacy.

Eventually, the girl introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Hermione Granger."

"Neville Longbottom" replied Neville.

"Harry Potter" said Harry in an aloof voice hoping against hope that she wasn't one of the fan girls Padfoot had teased him about.

"Are you really? I've read all about you." said a suddenly excited Hermione.

So much for hope thought Harry shaking his head while Neville was trying very hard not to laugh at his predicament.

Harry ignoring Neville looked at Hermione and in his most calm tone of voice said, "Yes, I'm Harry Potter and whatever you read in those books probably isn't true. Ok except for maybe my surviving part and the scar part is true. Everything apart from that is nothing but a pack of lies."

Hermione looked scandalized at this and said in a haughty tone of voice.

"But the books clearly state ―"

Before she could finish her tirade, Harry cut her off by saying, "Hermione the only ones involved that night were Voldemort, my parents and me. My parents and Voldemort apparently died that night. I was little over a year old and I assure you I have not given anyone any interview about that night. So how is it that the books were able to write about it all?"

This seemed to have brought Hermione up short as she was unable to refute Harry's facts. She was just about to say something but didn't as exactly at that moment the door to their compartment slid open and a tall, thin and gangling redhead boy with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose came in and sat down and looked at Harry and said, "Oh good! You're here. I was looking for you everywhere."

Harry looked at Neville questioningly who was equally confused. So he turned to the redhead boy and asked, "Excuse me, but who are you?"

The redhead boy, who was shuffling something in his pocket looked up at Harry and said, "Ron Weasley. My parents and your parents fought together during the war. My mum's told me all about your parents. I'm telling you Harry, we're going to be best of friends."

Harry for his part did not know how to react; whether he should be angry at the boy for barging in like that or angry at him for presuming that they would become best friends. When he looked at Neville, he found him staring at Ron like he was crazy. Personally, Harry didn't blame him.

So he looked at Ron and said, "Ron, I'm sorry, but I really don't know about your family. My parents didn't tell me anything. Neither did my godfather or my uncle. I appreciate your offer of being my best friend but I already have one and he is sitting right here. Now I'm sure we can be friends but please from next time try asking for permission in order to be polite instead of barging in on my privacy. That said you are more than welcome to sit here."

All through this Hermione had not said a word and was calmly reading the book that she had in her hand. Harry remembering her earlier conversation, looked at her and asked in a teasing tone, "So Hermione, what all did you read about me in those books of yours?"

Hermione who had picked up on his teasing tone, scowled at him and said, "Harry, I know now that the books are wrong. But do you really have to rub it in?"

Neville who was sitting next to her couldn't hold himself any further and chuckled which earned him a dirty look from Hermione. In response he just put his hands up in surrender and said, "I'm sorry Hermione, but you clearly didn't get Harry's point. He wasn't rubbing it on you. Rather he wanted to make you feel better about having been misguided by the books and hence his attempt at teasing you."

Despite not wanting to, Hermione found herself grinning a bit and it was then she noticed Fido sitting next to Harry and gasped, before she asked in a almost a whisper, "What sort of a bird is that?"

Harry as is always the case when it comes to introducing Fido, puffed his chest in a proud fashion and said, "This, my dear Hermione is Fido, my familiar. He is a thunderbird."

Hermione suddenly put her books aside and looked like a child stuck in a toy shop and asked excitedly, "Thunderbird? I'm sorry but I haven't heard about them. What's special about them? Can I touch him? Or is it her?"

Harry looking bemused at Hermione's enthusiasm said, "Yes, Fido is a very rare magical bird and are generally very hard to spot. The only reason I was able to see Fido was because I had the possibility of a familiar bond with him."

"Thunderbirds can create winds so powerful with a single clap of their wings that they can dislodge a roomful of people and also shoot lightning bolts from their mouth. But most importantly they are capable of instantly transporting to any location anywhere in the world irrespective of the wards or protections. Lastly, like I said earlier, it is most definitely him and yes, you can touch him."

At this even Ron looked at him and asked, "Can I touch him too Harry?"

Harry looked at him and said with a shrug, "Sure Ron, why not?"

So the next few minutes were spent with Hermione and Ron petting Fido but soon they were back to the seat where they were sitting earlier while chatting amicably to each other and inquiring about each other's families.

A little while later, a plump old witch came pushing in a trolley laden with sweets and food items. Harry noticed Ron seeing the trolley longingly and then taking out what looked like packed sandwiches from inside his pocket.

Anyone else would have dismissed Ron's longing glance as one of regret for having brought sandwiches from home when he could have gotten something from the trolley, but Harry knew that it was look not of regret but that of longing wish that you knew would only be that, a wish. After all he had spent quite a bit of time having that very same look whenever he saw Dursleys eating or his cousin eating a new candy.

This mollified Harry a bit and in light of what he had heard from Ron about his family, he could understand that even though his family was not off great means, his parents tried their best to ensure that all of them had a good and happy bringing.

Deciding to cut the boy some slack, Harry decided to give a genuine shot at friendship with Ron and bought quite a bit of food for all four of them from the plump witch.

What followed was a crash course in wizarding candies and chocolates for Hermione, that the three boys were only happy to provide her with. What made it more exciting was the fact that though she enjoyed finding out about all the candies, Hermione also kept muttering under her breath about how her parents were going to be so angry when they found out owing to the fact that they both were Dentists or as Ron called them, Healer for Tooth Ailments.

The only downside of the whole trip in Harry's view was the visit by none other than Draco Malfoy who was accompanied by his friends Crabbe and Goyle.

It was as Ron was chewing on the last of the chocolate frogs from the pile that Malfoy and his friends had come into the compartment with Malfoy starting to spout his usual 'we purebloods are better' crap.

Ever since the day Harry had met Draco Malfoy in one of the fundraisers at St. Mungo's, the two boys had always been at odds with each other. Largely due to the fact that Harry had denied Malfoy's hand in friendship and had decided to stick with Neville with whom he had recently become friends with then.

From then on every time Draco and Harry met, the other boy would sneer and then try to insult him or his family and friends and try to get a rise out of him. Harry's reaction though tended to be based on his mood on that particular day. There would be days when he simply let Malfoy spew his drivel while paying him any actual attention. But then there would be days when Harry would put the other boy in his place with a few well chosen words and walk away leaving the other boy angry and humiliated.

The fact that Padfoot, Moony and his father wore gleeful looks when he chose the latter method of dealing with Malfoy only served to encourage Harry to choose that particular form of dealing with Malfoy more often, a fact that seemed to piss off his mum and make her berate him continuously for behaving more and more like how the Marauders were during their Hogwarts years.

Today it was yet again a case of Harry following the Marauders' footsteps and humiliating Draco Malfoy and his friends leaving the latter sputtering angrily.

Once Malfoy and his friends had stormed off, Harry had to deal with an exasperated but amused Neville, an awestruck Ron and an irate Hermione who for some reason seemed to Harry like she was channeling his mum in the way she berated him for treating Malfoy and his friends so rudely, telling him that he should have acted better.

Once Harry had in a no non sense fashion told Ron that the only reason he did what he did to Malfoy was because he did not want to spend the next seven years at Hogwarts with the other boy going off about him and his friends and that normally he hated behaving like that, which meant that if Ron wanted to be friends with him, he needed to understand that to Harry money, fame and family prestige all meant nothing unless you were in a formal and public gathering and that he preferred being 'Just Harry' to his friends.

After that, he turned to Hermione and told her his reason for talking to Draco Malfoy like that, which basically turned into another crash course session for Hermione in the way the wizarding world operated in terms of bloodlines and origins in which Ron, Neville and Harry all took turns telling Hermione what they knew on the topic.

Suffice to say that by the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into the Hogsmeade station, Hermione was a little subdued and looked like she was in deep contemplation.

The moment four friends descended onto the platform, they were greeted by none other than Rubeus Hagrid himself, the Keeper of Keys and Games at Hogwarts. One reason why Harry and Neville were so familiar with Hagrid was because Hagrid loved magical creatures and when he found out that Potter Manor had a stable full of them, he soon became a regular visitor there and could often be seen deep in discussion with Raffles.

When Harry had introduced Fido to Hagrid, the big man looked like a kid whose biggest wish had been granted to him and often wrote to Harry asking about Fido's health and upkeep. The moment Fido saw Hagrid he gave a soft coo, greeting Hagrid in his own style.

Soon they were joined by the other first years and then Hagrid led them over to the magical boats through which all the first years would be taken to Hogwarts.

When Harry caught his first glimpse of the Hogwarts castle, he immediately understood why none of the adults agreed to take him to Hogwarts and instead told him that he should wait till the time he started his first year at Hogwarts to see it.

It truly was an awe inspiring view. The narrow path on which they were walking had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was the Hogwarts castle with many turrets and towers.

Hagrid then announced that only four were allowed to a boat pointing to a fleet of boats and they all rushed to take a seat on the boat. The four friends promptly took a boat for themselves. Once every first year was seated and accounted for, Hagrid commanded the boats to go forward and the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. They all then walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here?" asked Hagrid and after getting a series of affirmative nods from the first years, he raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once revealing a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face that anyone at first thought would think that she was not someone to cross but Harry knew otherwise. Minerva McGonagall or Aunt Minnie as she had asked him to call her in private happened to be a very dear friend of Harry's grandmother Dorea Black and Harry had firsthand account of the fact that despite her stern and no non sense demeanor, she was a very kind and compassionate woman.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid putting an end to Harry's musings.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big that Harry was sure that the whole of Dursleys' house would fit right in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.

"The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule breaking will lose House points." At this, she paused and gave a pointed look to Harry and Neville and Harry was prepared to swear that he saw her lips twitch a bit. Nevertheless she continued.

"At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours."

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair despite knowing that it was no good.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.

"How exactly do they sort us into Houses?" he asked Neville who shook his head in response indicating that he had no idea. Ron who was standing next to Neville said, "Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

Harry's heart sank a bit inducing a sense of dread within him. A test in front of the whole school? Surely they can't do that. Harry was sure that Neville and he were probably the only ones, who had any practical knowledge well past their year level, thanks to all their training. Yet, to perform in front of the whole school was not something Harry was looking forward to. A side glance in Neville's direction told Harry that his friend was thinking on similar lines.

Harry looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except Hermione who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and was wondering which one she'd need. Harry tried hard to not be nervous but it was not working. Never, not even when he'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he'd somehow turned his teachers wig blue had he been this nervous.

He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Aunt Minnie would come back and lead him to his doom.

Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air — several people behind him screamed.

"What the — ?"

Harry gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old House, you know."

Just then a horrible ghost with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood glided over to where Harry was standing with his friends. When the ghost reached them, he looked Harry in the eye and said with an expressionless tone of voice.

"So it is true then."

At this both first year students as well as ghosts seemed confused. The ghost, with what Harry was sure was a smirk on his face continued.

"Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."

A/N: Well first things first, Thank you for such an encouraging response and I'm really so sorry for the delay.

What with the financial year end around the corner, the ongoing T20 Cricket World Cup and the upcoming season of IPL, I got too tied up with the new Advertisements that I had to shoot.

I do hope you like the way I dealt with Harry's life until he started Hogwarts.

As always, let me know what you think of it and any ideas or suggestions you may have via reviews and PMs.

Happy reading!

madcrazystoryteller


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